MAST in Action

We love hearing how educators are using MAST in their classrooms! Your stories can inspire, offer new ideas, and show others what’s possible. Please share your experiences so we can highlight them for fellow educators.

👉 Tell us your story here!

MAST Watch: Active Monitoring Made Easy

Active monitoring helps students stay focused, pace themselves, and get the most out of MAST. Teachers can support students by circulating the room and checking the Monitoring tab in real time. We know that it takes time to set up and login to the platform, prepare for that as a part of the time and create routines to make it 

⏲️Set a Time Guide

⏱️Encourage self-monitoring: remind students to check the clock at natural pauses. Pacing is a guide, not a source of stress.

⏳Testlets aren’t timed, but most students finish within a predictable range. Use the Test Timing docs to help students plan their work.

📝To help plan instructional time, we’ve provided estimated testlet durations based on how long 50–80% of students took during the MAST pilot. Use these as flexible guides; some students may finish sooner, others may need more time!

• ELA Test Timing Document
• Math Test Timing Document

⏱️Work with the Clock

• Try giving testlets toward the end of the learning period for a natural finish line.
• Check in regularly to keep students focused, on pace, and confident!

By combining clear timing guidance, gentle check-ins, and active monitoring, you help students stay on track, feel confident, and make the most of their MAST experience!

Tech Support

Having trouble logging into Kite? Try these steps:

💻 Be sure to use and bookmark the unique MT Kite login: https://educator-testlet.kiteaai.org/AART/logIn.htm [educator-testlet.kiteaai.org]. If users are Googling Kite, they’ll be taken to the incorrect login page and receive errors when trying to log in. Users will need to use multi-factor authentication when logging into Kite, so be sure to check email inboxes or junk/spam folders for the Access Code.

📧 Use your full district email address as the username.

📤If you have forgotten your password, enter your full district email address into the username field then follow the 'Forgot Password' prompts.

Maximizing Score Reports

This Month’s Focus: Interpreting Progress Indicators

🔍 What does student work look like at the “meeting,” “approaching,” and “developing” levels?

📊 How do students move from one level to the next?

Use this quick three-step routine to dive deeper:

1. Scan: Identify trends (are most students in one level?)
2. Zoom: Choose 3–5 students across levels
3. Act: Plan one specific instructional next step

Now, work with your students to set a goal around the skills needed to reach proficiency.

Why Goal Setting Matters

🎯Goal setting—especially when done with students—is one of the most powerful practices we can use to improve learning outcomes. When educators and learners analyze data together and set clear, attainable goals, they cultivate ownership, motivation, and clarity about what success looks like.

According to John Hattie’s research on Visible Learning (2009, 2012, 2018), student goal setting and self-assessment have an effect size of 0.68, well above the 0.40 threshold for practices that significantly accelerate achievement. This means that when students understand where they are in their learning, where they’re going, and the steps to get there, they learn nearly twice as much in the same amount of time.

The Goal Setting Activity linked below is designed to help both teachers and students use MAST data to identify strengths, set focused goals, and monitor progress—turning data into meaningful action that drives continuous improvement. This information can then be used to drive instructional decisions and conversations with families about next steps.

🗂️ Resources: 

• Teacher Goal Setting Worksheet
• Student Goal Setting Worksheet

Instructional Strategies that Work

ELA Essentials:

💭Featured Resource: Harvard’s Project Zero Thinking Routines Toolbox features thinking routines designed to foster discussion and critical thinking for a variety of purposes. Searchable categories allow educators to find a routine to fit their instructional needs.

📝Featured Resource: November’s ELA instructional strategy highlights the Project Zero activity Circle of Viewpoints, which can be used or adapted to support student learning about point of view, characterization, inference, and more!

💡Strategy Spotlight: Project Zero Thinking Routines. Click the image below to watch a short video on this strategy and how you can use this in your 3rd - 12th grade classrooms!

✍️ Don’t Forget! Performance Tasks are part of Window 2. Join Claire Mikeson, our ELA Instructional Coordinator, on November 12 from 3:30–4:30 PM for tips on preparing for Performance Tasks!

No need to register, just join us on Teams at this link!

Professional Learning & Engagement Opportunities

Did you know there is a whole suite of previous professional learning sessions available? We know you're busy and you can't get to everything, so all of our sessions are recorded! The Assessment Stay Informed page has focused support videos and professional learning videos linked. 

Recorded Professional Learning Includes:

• MAST 4 Teachers
• Preparing to Test Webinars
• Utilizing and Understanding Score Reports
• Math Misconceptions

Click the image below to see our upcoming Live Professional Learning Sessions, schedule a personalized 'MAST Mini Session', Links to previous sessions, and pdfs of all slides!

Parent Connection:

Don't forget! Parents should receive their child’s testlet reports after each administration, either by printing them or through the Kite Parent Portal. Sharing this MAST Parent One-Pager helps families understand the assessment. Don’t forget, students should see their own reports too!.

Leadership Lens:

Quick tips to support teachers with MAST:

• Scheduling: Build flexibility within assessment windows to reduce anxiety and protect instructional time. Remember, testlets don't have to be pushed to the end of the windows! We transitioned to 8 windows to provide more flexibility for taking testlets close to instruction. 
• Performance Tasks: Prepare teachers and students for Performance Tasks by providing guidance, practice opportunities, and clear expectations. Check out the Student Rubrics and Exemplars on the MAST Portal!
• Communication: Share clear updates and expectations so teachers feel prepared. Share this newsletter with your 3-8 ELA and Math educators! They can subscribe here. The MAST Educator one pager is a great resource to share for easy access. 
• Celebration & Goal Setting: Highlight successes, recognize growth, and encourage students and teachers to set goals for the next assessment window.

New to MAST? We've got you!

We know that there is so much to learn and understand about Montana's statewide assessment, and we don't want it to be a mystery. So where do you start?

1. Review the MAST Educator Slides - these take you from the beginning to know what to expect, through the assessment blueprints, student accommodations, preparing for assessments, data chats, and more.

2. Bookmark the MAST PORTAL. Teacher resources, support videos, and more can all be found here.

3.Save the Educator Resources Page! Easy access to resources!

4. Ask Questions! We're here to help! OPIAssessmentHelpDesk@mt.gov